Give Them a Voice:
World Week for Animals in Labs

It’s long past time to move on to innovative and cutting-edge scientific
methods that don’t involve animals. There are alternatives. It's up to us as
individuals and as a society to get involved.

Today marks the start of World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL),
which is being celebrated this April 17-24 by In Defense of Animals, along with
the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, the New England
Anti-Vivisection Society and the American Fund for Alternatives to Animal
Research.

WWAIL is dedicated to bringing attention to the cruel, wasteful and
unnecessary experiments performed on the millions of lab animals who suffer
intensely and die alone and afraid behind closed doors every year. Not only do
many of these tests inflict pain and suffering for no reason, but the animals
also suffer at the hands of caretakers who lack empathy or compassion.

The silent majority among biomedical researchers debate this issue heatedly
with their colleagues who perform these acts of cruelty. At its heart, they say
that causing injury or illness contradicts the search for health and healing.

Many are stepping forward to question the validity of using animals in
experiments. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK suspect
selective reporting on anything that might be deemed as a positive result, and
not on failures, is skewing scientific and public views on the effectiveness of
using animals as human models and treatment efficacy.

While some may make the argument that we would be missing many benefits of
modern medicine if animals hadn’t been used as test subjects, there have been
just as many failures, if not more. According to the FDA, 92% of drugs that show
promise in animals fail in clinical trials, making the continued use of animals
unjustifiable not only on an ethical scale, but on a scientific one as well.

Worse even, are the drugs that show promise in animals and get approved for
use in humans, about 11 percent, only to cause more havoc. Thalidomide caused
thousands of birth defects and deaths. Vioxx caused heart damage in humans. The
list goes on, Eraldin, Opren, Clioquinol, Isoprenaline, Rezulin.

There’s an even more extraordinary list of experiments done in the name of
“progress” that seem almost too full of ridiculousness to even be real. Yet,
they passed rigors of oversight committees and received federal funding, and
lots of it.

IDA compiled a list of some great examples of bad science,
Top 10 Reasons Why Animal Research Is a Cruel Joke. You might be
relieved to know that trapped rats will, indeed, freak out and that castrating
your children is, in fact, a bad idea. Oh, also? Exercise is good for you and
vaginal stimulation just might be pleasurable.

It’s long past time to move on to innovative and cutting-edge scientific
methods that don’t involve animals. There are alternatives. It's up to us as
individuals and as a society to get involved.

Visit the World Week for Animals in Labs campaign to find events and
anti-vivisection campaign information.

Get loud with your cash. Check for the animal-friendly Leaping Bunny symbol
on products from cosmetics to household cleaners, or make your own non-toxic
cleaning supplies.

Sign Care2’s petition to support the Great Ape Protection Act, which will end
invasive research practices on great apes and grant those in labs retirement to
sanctuaries and send a letter to your representatives asking for their support.

Take a minute to speak up for lab animals by contacting Obama through the
Office of Public Liaison on the need to move away from using animals in
research. It’s time for the new administration to pull the financial plug on
cruel and wasteful research.

If you're looking to donate to a charity, give and let live. Visit the
Humane
Seal for a list of organizations that use progressive non-animal research
methods for a number of causes from cancer and Alzheimers disease to trauma
treatments and substance abuse.

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